1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to composite sheets including a conductor film located on a ceramic green sheet, a multilayer ceramic electronic component including the composite sheets, and a method for manufacturing the multilayer ceramic electronic component.
2. Description of the Related Art
A multilayer ceramic electronic component such as a multilayer ceramic capacitor has been manufactured thus far in the following manner. Firstly, an internal electrode is printed on a ceramic green sheet to form a composite sheet. Then, multiple composite sheets of this type are been stacked on top of one another. As the size of the multilayer ceramic electronic components has been reduced, the number of ceramic green sheets and internal electrodes to be stacked on top of one another has been increasing. The increase in number of sheets and electrodes requires a longer time for stacking the sheets and the electrodes on top of one another. If the time for stacking the sheets and the electrodes is reduced, the interlayer adhesion is weakened. If the interlayer adhesion is weakened, layers become more likely to be displaced from one another during a stacking step.
International Publication No. WO 2011/071143 discloses a multilayer ceramic electronic component that includes internal electrodes each having a saddle portion protruding in the thickness direction at its end portion. These internal electrodes are stacked in such a manner that the saddle portions do not overlap one another in the thickness direction, whereby delamination is prevented.
As described in International Publication No. WO 2011/071143, the structure in which each internal electrode includes a saddle portion can prevent delamination from occurring and enhance the adhesion between the internal electrodes and the ceramic green sheets at the internal-electrode end portions. The enhancement of the adhesion is considered to prevent the electrodes and the sheets from being displaced from one another during the stacking step.
However, further size reduction of multilayer ceramic electronic components requires a further enhancement of the adhesion between internal electrodes and ceramic green sheets.